Andy's Town
by I'mADisgrace
Summary: A new deputy arrives in Andy's town, and he can't help but notice that something is off. With a crime rate like this, he's rushed off his feet, but he still somehow finds time to spare a glance at the Sheriff's mysterious, hot headed and beautiful sister. With a darker secret surrounding the town, this deputy might have been better off staying in the big city.
1. Chapter 1

"Jessie, will you please go and saddle up Bullseye?" Woody asked again with a sigh, whisking quickly around the small office,

"Why do I have to do it?" the redhead replied with a whine, pushing a few papers around the table surface she was perched on,

"Because you're cluttering up the place and I'm trying to get the office ready for the new deputy arriving" he replied, finally stopping at his desk and picking up his hat,

"Oh, was that today?" Jessie asked, tilting her head quizzically.

Woody paused the pinching and reforming of his hat and glanced over at her, narrowing his eyes, "Are you really trying to convince me that you'd forgotten? After you've spent the last week trying to find out everything you can about this guy?",

Jessie frowned and stood from the desk, "I'll go and saddle Bullseye" she murmured, pushing her hands into her skirt pockets and leaving the office, letting a cone of bright sunlight flash through the doorway briefly as it stood open.

Woody shook his head and stood straight from his desk which he'd been leaning on,

He made his way over to the peeling mirror that hung up on the opposite wall. The sheriff looked down to his hat once more, still moulding it into shape, and then looked back to his reflection, slowly placing said hat atop his head, angling it so it sat just right. The glittering of the badge on his chest then caught Woody's eye, and he looked down to it, wiping off a small smear with the very end of his sleeve.

The door to the office then opened again, and with a sigh, Woody turned to address who he assumed was Jessie, trying to catch sight of the new deputy again,

Instead however, a short but broad man stood in the doorway, watching him a little quizzically,

"Sheriff Woody?" the man asked, letting the door swing closed behind him,

"Ah, yes-" Woody nodded, walking around his desk to approach the man, his hand outstretched, "-you must be Mr-"

"Buzz, Buzz is fine" he replied, shaking the sheriff's hand.

"Right, Buzz it is then, was your journey okay?" he said gesturing to the second desk beside his own,

"Oh, thank you" Buzz nodded, "Yes, it was fine thank you" he said as he put his bags on the table,

"Good, I'm glad to hear that" Woody smiled, perching on the countertop once more.

The two men then fell into silence, looking at one another blankly, both having exhausted their planned topics of conversation in just a few seconds.

"Oh! Err-" Woody suddenly exclaimed, turning to look over the neatly stacked papers on his desk, "Here" he said, picking up a small, flat box and holding it towards Buzz,

The man walked over slowly, and took the box, turning it over in his large hands, he then opened it, revealing a shining gold badge in the shape of a star, the word 'deputy' etched across its front.

"Thank you" he said, smiling softly and going to pin it to his front,

"No thanks required, you sir, are now officially the deputy of Andy's Town" Woody smiled, his arms folded over his chest, "Now come on, I'll give you the tour"

0o0o0

The two men stepped out onto the dust dry street of the town, the place lit with the warm orange light of the slowly setting sun, and they begun, side by side, towards the saloon at the other end of the road, Woody pointing out places by name and owner as they went.

"-the bank is managed by Mr Ham, but he's an elusive character, we don't see a whole lot of him around the town. And this is the barbers shop, owned by Mr and Mrs Potatohead- they're a nice enough couple if you can get past the shouting matches and the sarcastic comments" Woody chuckled mirthlessly, glancing over to Buzz who had been very quiet since the tour began, "You alright there partner?" he asked, his smile wavering a little,

"Oh, yes. It's just a lot to get used to… and a lot to remember" the deputy admitted, looking a little sheepish,

"Don't worry too much about remembering it all" Woody said patting him on the back, "It's a small town, everyone knows everybody here, so you'll pick up names quick" he assured him, removing his arm and sliding his hand into his own pocket.

"And this is the saloon, owned by Barbara and Kenneth. They're real nice too" Woody beamed, placing one booted foot on the bottom step up to the decking, "You'll be staying here tonight, and for a couple days after until your house is all furnished and ready for you to live in. Now, got any questions?" he asked, putting his hands to his hips,

"One, I suppose" Buzz nodded,

"Well shoot partner" the brunette nodded, folding his arms and leaning against a pillar holding up the sun cover over the saloon's entrance.

"I heard that the crime rate here is higher than it is in almost any other town in this part of the west. Not to doubt your abilities sheriff, but the town is a lot smaller than I thought it would be" Buzz said, his cheeks flushed a little,

Woody sighed, and his smile dropped, "Listen" he said, starting towards the deputy to speak to him in a lower tone, "People 'round here are real nice, trust me. But if there's one bad thing about nice people, it's that they're real good targets for bad people. And believe me, we have our fair share of bad people around here", he then raised his hand, drawing Buzz's attention to three posters pinned to the board outside the saloon,

"One eyed Bart and one eyed Betty-" he began, indicating the poster on the far left,

It showed drawings of two stout people, one male, and one female. The drawings were badly done, but it was clear from the image that Bart had a large black moustache, and that Betty had huge earrings in each ear. Unsurprisingly, both wore an eyepatch each, covering an apparently missing eye.

"-a married couple who steal money from the bank almost once a month. I've chased them across the plains to the train tracks on dozens of separate occasions, but I lose them in the mountains every time. They must have hideout somewhere up there, no doubt guarded by their vicious dog, the thing's bit me more than once.

"Then there's Bazooka Jane-" he continued, pointing to the poster on the right,

Again, the drawing was probably a poor likeness of the criminal it was of, but in this case, it wouldn't have made much of a difference as 'Bazooka Jane' had a large hat casting her eyes in shadow and a bandana over her mouth and nose. All that could be distinguished from the picture was that her long hair was tied into a neat plat, and it was slung over one of her shoulders,

"-she's a lone wolf who has a soft spot for animals. She steals horses, cattle and sometimes even sheep from local farmers and cowboys, letting them run free across the plain instead- we hardly ever manage to wrangle the animals back, and I've never even come close to catching Jane, at least not on horseback.

"And finally, the most dastardly and heartless of the bunch, the positively evil Dr Porkchop-"

Compared to the other posters, the final one showed an image that could practically be considered a caricature of the man it was meant to be. The man had a round face, most of which was hidden out of sight by the brim of a bowler hat- what could be seen however, was a plump cigar clasped between his thick lips,

"I think he runs the network of criminals. He's rich, no doubt, and I think he gives resources to those that work for him. In return, they give him more money"

Woody then straightened up and flattened down his hide waistcoat, "But aside for them, everyone's real nice",

As the final word left his mouth, the saloon doors swung open violently, and a man fell hard through them onto the decking,

A split second later, one saloon door flapped hard again, hitting the outside wall, and a tall, redheaded woman stepped out from the doorway, stopping to stand over the crumpled, and cowering man, her face like thunder and her voice filled with rage,

"I don't want to see your no good, damn dirty face in this town again you hear?!" she was shouting, pointing down at the man threateningly, "In fact-" her eyes darted to Woody, and she took a long stride towards him, her hand finding his pistol that was strapped to his side immediately, and she drew it, pointing it towards the man who still lay on the decking,

"Hey!" Woody yelped, reaching for the gun, and twisting her hand away so she dropped it with a clatter.

Buzz then jumped into action, looping his arms around the woman's to hold them both behind her back,

As this all happened, the man who had been destined to get the bullet had scampered from the patio and had found his feet, he was now running straight out of town, pulling up his dampened trousers clumsily as he did so,

"What the heck happened Jessie?" Woody asked with a sigh, retrieving his pistol and putting it back in its holster,

"The guy tried to put his hands all over me Woody, I had no choice!" the redhead insisted, struggling against Buzz's hold,

"Oh, you had no choice did you?" the brunette huffed, stepping toward her, "You just had to kick the snot out of him and shoot him did you?"

Jessie stopped struggling and instead looked down to her shuffling feet, remaining silent.

Woody then sighed again and flapped a dismissive hand towards her, "What am I going to do with you?" he murmured, "Let her go Buzz, let her go" he then added, rubbing his closed eyes sorely,

"Sheriff?" the deputy asked, giving him a quizzical look from over Jessie's shoulder that he could only just see over,

"I said let her go" he nodded in response.

Buzz did as he was told, and Jessie quickly moved away from him, instead going to join Woody, her arms folded as she observed the deputy closely, her look somewhat sceptical,

"Jessie, this is Buzz, the new deputy" Woody began, introducing him, "And Buzz, this is Jessie, my sister"

The stout man immediately felt his face heat up, and he didn't doubt for a second that his cheeks were glowing bright red,

"We'll let you off this occasion, but you gotta promise not to go 'round beating guys up for no good reason", the sheriff said addressing his sister once more,

"No good reason!?" Jessie exclaimed, looking over to her brother is disbelief, "Woody, he was-"  
"I said, we'll let you off!" Woody cut in sharply, " _This_ time",

Jessie looked as if she were about to make another argument, but instead she huffed loudly and stormed back into the saloon, letting the doors swing wildly behind her again as she did.

"Sorry you had to meet her that way" Woody sighed, moving a little closer to Buzz who hadn't said a word in several minutes, "She's usually pretty tame"

Buzz coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat, "I-I'm sure she is" he nodded, taking his handkerchief from his pocket and mopping up some sweat from his brow,

"Golly partner, you look warm. Must be this desert heat, come on, we'll get you a cold drink inside" Woody said, leading his new deputy into the saloon.

But it wasn't the desert heat that was making Buzz sweat, as the sun had gone down by the time they made it into the public house, the blistering temperature having dropped with it, and Andy's Town was instead becoming illuminated by gas lights and torches.


	2. Chapter 2

The inside of the saloon wasn't all that dissimilar to what Buzz had been expecting.

Immediately beyond the swinging doors was one large room filled primarily by a sea of tables and mismatched chairs, all of which led up to a bar at the back that stood surrounded by tall stools. To the left there was a low stage with tattered curtains hanging around it, each with brightly coloured patches sewn onto them, covering various rips and holes. And to the right there was a band made up of elderly men clutching equally ancient looking instruments, the noises coming from them barely passible as music, but atmospheric nonetheless. Although Buzz was not shocked by the sights before him, such as the black toothed men playing cards, or the young cowboys slumped over tables having drunk their weights in beer and whiskey, he found himself becoming lost in the moment and it was only when Woody tapped his arm that he realized that the brunette was talking,

"We'll get you a beer, on me" he was saying, a bright smile on his face,

"Oh, thank you sheriff" Buzz nodded, blinking back to the situation at hand.

The man then led him over to the bar, dodging between tables as they went, heading towards a couple of empty stools beside Jessie, who had already gone back to her drink waiting on the counter.

"Take a seat Buzz" Woody instructed, tapping the stool right next to his sister, causing the stiff suede covering to give slightly, a wisp of dust hissing out of it,

Buzz nodded his thanks once more and sat, finding himself immediately embarrassed by the fact that his feet barely touched the ground beneath him, instead, his toes grazed the paneled flooring, and while Woody clearly hadn't noticed, Buzz didn't doubt that Jessie had. He could practically feel her eyes fixed on his blushing face,

He risked a glance at her, and their eyes met for a long moment. Buzz had expected Jessie to look away as soon as she saw him turning to meet her gaze, but instead she had stared right back at him,

The deputy blushed an even deeper shade of red and put his attention instead to the chipped countertop.

"Barbara!" Woody called, tapping the bar to be heard over the general ruckus of the saloon,

A beaming woman dressed in a checked, faded pink dress then rushed over to the counter before them, a jug of sloshing beer held in her hand as she bustled over,

"A beer for my new deputy" the sheriff beamed, slapping Buzz on the back.

The man smiled softy at the woman as a way of greeting, and she immediately dissolved into a flurry of questions, not one of which Buzz found the time to answer before she asked another,

"Another here too Barbie" Jessie then mumbled, pointing to her glass that contained nothing but dregs and a small layer of foam,

"I think you've had quite enough already" Woody said, his happy expression falling slightly as he addressed his sister.

Buzz was watching the interaction cautiously until a mug of beer was placed before him. He looked up to find 'Barbie' smiling at him again, one hand on her hip,

"Thank you" he nodded taking the drink in hand,

"You're so welcome" the blonde beamed, she then opened her mouth again, no doubt to set upon him in interrogation again, but was cut off by another call of her name further down the counter. Still sporting an illuminated smile, she set off to attend on the new customer, half filling Jessie's mug as she passed it, ignoring the arguing siblings who didn't seem to notice.

Buzz sighed and raised the glass to his lips, savoring the first mouthful of beer as he poured it into his mouth, swallowing it down solidly, reveling the way it soothed his parched throat. He found his mind wondering in that moment, as he watched a man flitting about the saloon, filling glasses with more warm beer as he went, his smile as bright as Barbie's, his suit brighter still and his movements akin to an energetic worker bee.

In the meantime, it would seem as though Woody and Jessie had stopped arguing, no doubt due to reaching a stalemate, and the sheriff was now observing the saloon patrons too, his hands on his hips,

"Expecting trouble sheriff?" Buzz asked, turning towards him,

"No, no Buzz" he dismissed quickly, "It's set to be a quiet night, so you can relax" he then paused as the doors to the saloon opened, and two young men entered, "I'm going to talk to Slink and Rex, you finish your drink", he said, not waiting for a response as he started over to them.

"What do you think?" Jessie then asked, drawing Buzz's gaze again,

"Excuse me?" the deputy asked, his eyes widening with shock at the very prospect that she was even talking to him,

"What do you think?" she repeated, pacing out the question a little more,

"Of what?"

"Of the town? My brother? The beer? Anything really. You look like a thinker, then again, looks can be deceiving and for all I know, your head could just be full of sawdust"

"Nice" Buzz blurted.

Jessie raised one thin eyebrow at him, "'Nice'?"

"The town, it seems quite nice, the people… they're-"

"Nice?" she suggested, bringing her beer mug up to her lips again, a slight smirk upturning them,

"Yes" he nodded, blushing violently and lifting his own drink in an attempt to cover his face.

It felt like hours had passed by the time Woody rejoined them, but it was better than nothing as Buzz had very nearly run out of beer to drink, and he was hardly feeling confident enough to ask the bubbly barmaid for more,

"Everything alright?" Jessie asked him as he finally sat on the only other spare stool on the other side of Buzz,

"Of course, they had no trouble" the brunette nodded, waving vaguely at Barbara who was passing with a refilled jug,

"What were they moving today?" his sister asked, staring into the white foam floating in her glass,

"Cattle" Woody answered,

Barbie then bounded over and poured a healthy portion of beer into each of their mugs.

The three then fell into an uncomfortable silence, nursing their drinks with varying degrees of enthusiasm,

"Get in for eight o'clock tomorrow" Woody then said standing, his drink drained,

"Err yes sheriff, I'll be there" Buzz nodded,

"Please Buzz, just Woody is fine" the brunette assured him, smoothing down his shirt, "Now your room is here, upstairs, Barbara will be able to show you I'm sure",

"I need to get my bag from the office still"

"Oh don't worry about that, Jessie will fetch it for you" the sheriff said dismissively,

"I'll do what?" Jessie asked, frowning at her brother.

"His bag Jess, you'll get it from the office" Woody said, his hands on his hips,

The redhead glared at him for a moment, before tipping the rest of her drink into her mouth and standing from the bar, making the stool stumble and clatter on the wood flooring, "Sure" she grumbled,

"No, no it's okay I'll-" Buzz began, but it was too late, she was already half way out of the saloon, heading for the doors. The deputy watched as she left, his eyes lingering on the exit long after she was gone,

"Barbie, can you show Buzz his room?" Woody asked, making the woman in question pause on the other side of the bar,

"I'm a little busy right now sheriff, but Ken can help" she said, nodding towards the thicket of customers.

"Okay then" he nodded in response, turning to look out over the tables, "There he is, come on" he then said, pointing to the man from earlier who had been moving around the saloon with such enthusiasm,

"Kenneth!" Woody shouted, approaching the man,

"Ahh, sheriff!" he cheered, turning gracefully on the spot and regarding him, "Oh, who is this?" he then asked with an outrageously exuberant smile,

"This is my new deputy, Buzz" Woody replied, his smile magnitudes dimmer than that of the man before him.

"Ahh, enchanté!" Ken said, offering his spare hand to the man,

"Err, hello! Buzz nodded, taking the offered hand and shaking it,

"That was in the French" the man said grandly, placing the hand on his hip once they had parted,

"I see"

"Buzz is staying here for a few days, just while his house gets the finishing touches, could you show him to his room?" the sheriff asked, drawing Ken's bright blue eyes away from Buzz who had started to squirm under his persistent gaze,

"Sure thing sheriff!

0o0o0

"Here you go partner" Ken beamed, opening the door into the small, neat bedroom,

"Thank you" Buzz nodded, catching the other man giving him the once over out of the corner of his eye as he passed. The deputy's smile waned into a look of discomfort, and he entered the room swiftly, trying to get away from the awkward situation.

"I'm sure it's a lot less than a…big 'city boy' like you is used to, but it's the very best we have", Ken was now hanging from the door, still smiling brightly and observing Buzz with a hooded gaze,

"It's fine thank you" he replied stiffly, putting his hands behind his back.

An unsettling silence than stretched between them, at least Buzz found it uncomfortable, but Ken was apparently enjoying it extensively from the look on his face,

"Can I get you anything? Something to drink? A little food? An extra blanket?" he asked,

"No, I'm quite alright, truly, I'm fine" Buzz answered surely,

"That you are!" Ken laughed in return,

"Excuse me?" the deputy responded, his eyebrows shooting up as he realized just what the other man had said,

"I'll just leave you to it then" Ken said, still laughing softly, but apparently having conveniently missed the previous question, "I'll give you a call in the morning, seven thirty sound okay? Steak and eggs for breakfast, made by yours truly".

"Sure" Buzz sighed, turning away from the man,

It was another few seconds before the deputy heard the door close, but when it did, he let out a long sigh.

The town was indeed 'nice' as he had said to Jessie, but it was also coming off as a little odd, more like the kinds of make believe places that were found in kids' books, the kind of place where people had names like 'Slink' and 'Potatohead' and villains with thick black moustaches and eyepatches wreaked havoc.

It was a caricature.

Buzz shook his head, he supposed that he fit in, what with a name like 'Buzz', and as such, he chose to drop the strain of thought, instead thinking to set about checking the contents of the room.

There was a bed of course, a little smaller than a double, dressed in clean white sheets, there was also an old wooden table, featuring a stack of thick paper, a bible, an ink well and pen, and a lit lantern, that illuminated the room. Otherwise, the room was bare, save for the empty dresser by the door- it was better than nothing though.

A knock sounded at the door, and Buzz paused, picturing Ken leaning in the doorway again, he sighed and headed over to answer it anyway, deciding that if it was indeed Ken, he'd probably come in regardless, but answering the door was the polite thing to do.

It wasn't though.

Jessie stood out I the corridor, holding Buzz's bag of belongings, "You found the room then?" she asked, coming in without invitation,

"Err yes, Ken showed me" Buzz replied, closing the door softly, and watching her as she in turn slowly observed the room,

"Ah, of course" she nodded, dropping the bag on the bed with little regard for its contents, "How did you find him?" the redhead then asked, dropping herself down onto the bed along with the bag, making the frame squeal and complain, "'Nice'?",

"Enthusiastic" Buzz replied, leaning on the desk, wincing as he tried to find the right word, folding his arms tightly over his chest as he did so.

Much to his surprise, Jessie laughed at the answer, and crossed her legs familiarly before her, "Yeah, I don't know how Barbie puts up with him all day, every day" she said looking to her dirty nails casually, "But I guess she must do, or they wouldn't have been married for so long",

"They're married!?" Buzz blurted, certain he must have misheard her. Surely _he_ couldn't be married to _her_?

"Yeah, why?" Jessie laughed again,

"No reason" he replied, shaking his head,

"I'll guess we'll talk about it some other time" she shrugged, standing from the bed, wiping her hands on her skirted thighs as she did.

"Oh, okay" Buzz said, mimicking her standing position, suddenly made nervous by her presence again,

"I'll see you tomorrow", bright and early" Jessie added, heading to the door, she then paused as she opened it, letting her hand linger on the handle, "Goodnight" and with that, she blew a kiss to him, smirking slightly as she did.

Buzz's cheeks burnt red, and he only managed to yelp out a brief 'Night' as the door was already closing behind the redhead.

Standing, staring at the spot that Jessie had just been in moments before, the deputy briefly wondered whether the night's in this town were always quite so hot.

0o0o0

The next morning, Buzz was thankful of the fact that he was awake, cleaned and dressed by the time Ken came to wake him, even in the new knowledge that he was in fact married, and seemingly happily so, to the beautiful women whom he owned the saloon with. He thankfully accepted and ate the breakfast that Ken cooked, although not all of it, as there was probably more than enough to feed most of the town. Buzz then left the saloon, and made the short walk down the street to the outskirts where the police office was.

Stood outside was Jessie, sweat slicked over her brow, and her ponytail loose down her back- Buzz thought the look suited her quite nicely,

The redhead had her back to him as he approached, her hands working at brushing the side of a beautiful chestnut horse, but she opened her mouth to address him all the same,

"Good morning" she huffed, the early morning sun tiring her as she worked,

"Morning" he nodded, "Who's this then?" he added, moving forward and cautiously resting his hand on the horse's neck.

"You haven't spent a lot of time with horse before, have you?" Jessie asked, pausing to watch him,

"Err, no" he admitted, taking his hand off swiftly, and putting it in his pocket,

She laughed softly and took a small step back, placing her hand on his wrist, making him jump slightly, as if he'd received a static shock from her, "His name's Bullseye-" she said as she pulled his hand from his pocket, and placed it once more on the horse's neck, "-and he's the fastest horse around… or so they say",

Buzz blushed as she guided his hand across the thick chord muscles of the steed's neck, the soft trimmed fur beneath his palm, while Jessie's delicate but calloused hand held the top of it.

"He's incredible" he smiled, watching as Bullseye moved tiredly before them,

"Hmm" she nodded, pulling away, "I love this horse, more than I love anything" she said fondly,

"More than you love your brother?" Buzz laughed, brushing his hands together,

Jessie opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut off by the man himself-

"Well good morning partner" the sheriff said, stood in the doorway of the office,

"Morning sheriff" he nodded, placing his hands on his hips.

"Getting acquainted with Bullseye are you?"

"Yes, he's magnificent" the deputy nodded,

"That he is, that he is" Woody agreed, "But it's probably time you came in for work… and time Jessie took him inside, don't you think?".

Jessie scowled at her brother, but nodded, and silently guided the horse around the side of the office, heading for the small stables behind it,

Buzz then followed Woody into the office, sighing softly as he did,

"Most of the time, the town is quiet, like I said-" the sheriff began, walking to his desk, "-so you should be paced into the job pretty nicely, not that you need it of course-" he added with a laugh, "-I hear you were real professional back in the city",

"So they tell me" the deputy nodded, taking an offered file from Woody,

"Let's get started shall we?".

0o0o0

It was midday when Buzz finally got through signing all the necessary paperwork and sealing and sending all of the letters he had to,

Woody would occasionally attempt to regale Buzz with stories of past crimes and conquests, but they soon dried up, leaving the two of them in silence, not even Jessie came back to see them,

The deputy considered asking more than once what the redhead did during the day, or at least more about their history as siblings living in the town, but every time it occurred to him, he thought better of it.

Buzz was just going through another bout of thinking about Jessie when the doors to the office swung open, revealing a small, flustered looking man,

"Slink, what's wrong?" Woody asked, standing quickly from his desk,

"It's the cattle Woody! Jane's at 'em again!" the man replied, panting heavily,

The sheriff grabbed his hat from his desk in a flash and hurried to the door, "Come on Buzz! We need to saddle up!" he yelled as he disappeared out onto the street,

The deputy sat, blinking for moment, before shooting up from his seat as well, grabbing his jacket as he went, and following the men out from the office, muttering a bewildered, 'Saddle up?' as he went.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ehh, sheriff!?"

"Keep up Buzz!"

Buzz looked down to the horse bouncing between his legs and winced as the ache in his groin got worse, with a deep sigh, he then squeezed his knees in close to the horses' side, and clipped it with the stirrups he'd had attached to his boots, making the horse double it's speed in an instant.

They were racing across the plains just outside of the town, in hot pursuit of the so called, 'Bazooka Jane' who was going from a small spot on the horizon, to a clear defined figure ahead of them, as they finally began to close in on her.

Buzz was having a little trouble matching the sheriffs speed, not being an adept rider of horses, but he was doing well enough to keep him both within sight and within earshot,

"We need to guide her towards Molly's pass, it's about half a mile from here!" Woody shouted, looking back over his shoulder for a second, "It's a dead end, if we get her down there, we can finally catch her. I'm going to ride wide, off to the left. Keep close behind her Buzz!"

And with that, his horse began to skew off to the left as he had said, kicking up even more dust as it went, and whinnying loudly,

Buzz lifted one hand to shield his eyes, both from the bright, hot sun and the grit flying towards him through the whipping air, and with a grumble, he tightened his grip on the reign, before kicking back his heals once more, making his own horse shriek and gamble forwards at a wild speed.

As uncomfortable as he was when riding, he wasn't going to let Jane get away because he couldn't keep up, and soon enough, he was only fifteen feet behind her.  
For a second, Buzz was sure he saw the woman turn her head, and glance behind her.

He saw green eyes looking out above a black bandana that covered the rest of her face, and two long red plaits trailing from under a wide rimmed black hat. And then they were gone, as the hooves of her horse thundered beneath her, and she rode faster still,

Ahead a pass stood open, the hazy horizon visible through it, and Jane seemed to be heading straight for that horizon.

Buzz gritted his teeth and clipped his heals just more than he dared, making his horse squeal in protest, but draw closer to the dust cloud Jane's own stallion was kicking up.

It seemed hopeless though, she was still heading straight ahead, drawing in closer to the open pass by the second,

Even worse, the deputy could feel his own horse beginning to falter, it's body shaking beneath him and slowing down, ever so slightly.

Suddenly, a shot rang out, and Jane veered wildly to the right as Woody came in from the left, quickly taking up the position she had been riding in. His gun was drawn, and held pointing upwards,

"That was a warning shot Jane!" he called out, just audible above the cacophony of hooves on the dry, hard plainland, he then turned and nodded to Buzz, pursuing Jane in her new course towards Molly's pass.

As if by design, the three then followed each other into the bottleneck opening of the pass, Jane at the front and Buzz taking up the rear,

But the canyon was clustered with rocks, and the longer they rode through it, the larger the gap between Woody and Jane became, and the thicker the billowing grit in her wake grew.

The sand scorched Buzz's eyes and he found it all the harder to ride, hardly being able to see ahead of him,

He could hear Woody though, not shouting to Jane, but calling out to him, to keep going, until-

"STOP!"

Bullseye and Buzz's own horse came to a grand halt, skidding on the rocky ground.

"What is it Sheriff?" Buzz asked, turning his head away to shield it from the dust and coughing violently as he tried to heave it from his lungs,

"She's- she's gone" Woody replied, dumbfounded.

The deputy's head shot up, and once the screen of grit dispersed, he was able to see the empty dead end of the canyon.

It was clear that the pass had once been open, hence the name, but now a wall of avalanched rock over thirty feet high left it blocked, completely impassable.

And yet, Woody, Buzz and their horses were the only ones there, Jane having completely vanished.

"Where did she go?" Buzz asked, gaping as he looked about the canyon walls,

"No. No!" Woody yelled, slipping down from Bullseye and rushing to the stacked blockade of rocks, "How could she- how did she-?" he asked frantically, starting to pull at boulders at random.

"Sheriff!" his deputy sighed, dismounting his own horse and approaching him,

By now he was acting more than ridiculously, tugging at rocks his size and more, but none of them budged.

"She can't do this again Buzz! She always gets away! Every single time!" he growled, his actions becoming feeble now.

"Come on Sheriff, we can't fall apart, we'll get her next time"

Woody slumped against a boulder and came to sit on the floor, his head resting on his hands, "No we won't Buzz" he said with a sigh,

"Now what kind of attitude is that?" Buzz asked, stooping to talk to him more closely, "You just need a plan, and more backup, you're a sheriff. You can deputize anyone in town in a time of crisis. And this Jane, she sounds like a crisis" he rested his hand on the other man's shoulder, wearing a smile he thought was encouraging.

Woody slowly looked up, first to his deputy's hand, and then to his face,

He sighed and gave a begrudging smile, placing his own hand atop Buzz's, "I don't need to deputize anyone Buzz" he said, setting to stand up again, "I've got you now. We can figure it out, no worries. You're right, we just need a plan",

"That's the spirit" Buzz smiled, and with that, he offered his hand to Woody, hoisting him to his feet.

0o0o0

By the time they made it back to town, a small crowd had gathered outside of the office, wanting to see what the conclusion of the thrilling chase across the plains had been, and hoping to even catch a sight of Bazooka Jane if they could.

They were left sorely disappointed though, and they dispersed rather quickly, most of them going back to the saloon.

This seemed to make Woody completely forget the hope Buzz had given him in the canyon, and he became downcast once more.

They herded Bullseye and Buzz's horse back to the stables, Woody lagging behind as they went.

It was made worse when they couldn't find Jessie and as such had to guide the horses back to their boxes themselves.

To top it off, Slink was waiting for them back in the office, and Rex had joined him.

After being told that Jane had gotten away, they solemnly listed off just how many of the cattle had gotten away and bolted across the field before they could herd them back up.

It was at this point that Buzz started to understand just how Woody felt, and could feel his own bleakness rising.

0o0o0

Buzz frowned up at the sky, his eyes squint against the sun, and beads of sweat streaking down his cheeks from the close, dry heat. He didn't want to be hanging around the office right now, Sheriff Woody was still sore about the events of the morning, namely the failed capture of Bazooka Jane, and as such, their shared work space was more uncomfortable than the outside. Or so Buzz thought.

After only a few minutes out 'patrolling', the baking sun was proving too hot to bear, and the deputy had quickly circled back to the station.

The shadow cast room beyond the small swinging doors looked inviting, mostly because shade meant cool temperatures, but the prospect of dealing with Woody's poor mood put Buzz right off that idea. He instead decided to try the next best thing, the stables.

It was sure to smell and be full of flies, but at least it had a roof.

Buzz trod over the coarse dirt ground, heading for the open, large square stables.

Inside there were four individual boxes for horses, all of which were full, and at the back was an open space filled with piled hay.

There was movement from the back, and immediately finding respite under the shady tin roof, Buzz slowly trudged towards it, choosing to investigate,

He wasn't much surprised by what he found however.

"There you are"

Jessie's shoulders tensed as she suppressed the shock jumping through her body, "Oh-" she replied, turning to look at him, "-Buzz. I didn't know you were here",

"Apparently" he nodded, "Sorry for spooking you",

"You didn't" Jessie said quickly, going back to the hay pile she was tending and turning some more straw over with the large pitchfork she held.

"We couldn't find you earlier, had to sort the horses out ourselves" Buzz said, watching as she worked,

"I know, your knots were all wrong, had to retie them when I got back" she sighed,

He winced, "Sorry, still not much of the rider, I could maybe do with a few lessons",

"I'd certainly say so" she nodded.

Buzz couldn't say he knew all that much about turning hay, but he couldn't help but think Jessie was pilling it up rather high in this one position she'd been working on since he'd found her,

"Well-" he frowned and faltered, shaking his head, "Where were you anyway?",

"I-" Jessie sighed and stopped working the straw, planting her pitchfork in the ground and leaning on it, "I was taking my horse out for some air, hasn't ridden in a while",

Buzz looked behind him to the horse boxes.

Jessie's horse was eating lethargically from a pail of oats that had been hooked up to the outside of its stall,

"Looks tired, did you go for a ride?" he asked, turning back to her,

"What is this? An interrogation" Jessie snapped, going back to poking at the hay.

"What?" Buzz replied, raising an eyebrow, "No! No, I was just wondering" he said, holding up his hands defensively, "I know you're a good rider, and good with horses is all",

"I am" she nodded, "And if you really want to know, I was out riding my horse west of the town, Slink will tell you as much",

"I don't doubt it" he said quickly.

Jessie sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap" she said shaking her head, "It's just I know how Woody gets, he'll be angry for days about missing Jane",

"So you heard?" Buzz nodded, perching on the slat of wood outcropping from the closest horse box behind him,

"Of course, everyone knows, gossip travels fast. One second everyone's concerned about the new deputy coming into town, and then before you're even settled, they're talking about another failed arrest of one of the town's most wanted" Jessie shrugged, "It's always the same, and they always blame Woody",

"It happens a lot then?"

"Sure" she nodded, "I mean, he gets the small-time criminals, when he's not too lilywhite to bring them in. But he hasn't once gotten close to Jane, Betty and Bart or the Doctor" she concluded, finally hanging the pitchfork up on the waiting hook on the wall. She put her hands on her hips and turned now to regard Buzz, "You think you can make a difference?",

He blinked at her, and frowned once more, "Well- I- Err-",

"Very convincing" she nodded,

"I'll try! I'll do everything I can. I'm used to catching bank robbers, but not used to chasing them down on horses is all",

"Well we'll see what we can do about that… when I have time" Jessie said, folding her arms,

Buzz perked up at that, and stood, smiling broadly at her, "Thank you",

"Don't mention it" she sighed, shaking her head, "Now I'll be back later, I'm sure you can survive another couple hours without me"

And with that, she shoved her hands deep into her dress pockets, and sauntered out of the stables, the sun hitting her woven hair and her green eyes shining as she covered them from the harsh light.

0o0o0

As the sun started to drop from the sky, Buzz decided to make his way to the saloon, as the streets were all but empty, save for people who had the same idea as him.

He made a beeline for last stool at the bar, and managed to get Barbie's attention quite quickly, earning a lukewarm glass of beer along with her trademark, bright smile.

Head down, Buzz spent a long time nursing his drink, avoiding eye contact with everyone that passed and thinking very hard about everything… and nothing.

It was an odd town, full of odd people and odd situations, none of which quite seemed right. The only person who seemed entirely on the level, without secrets or vice, was Woody. But at the same time, he didn't appear to notice the strangeness around him,

To Buzz, that made him an odd choice for a sheriff.

The deputy sighed and lifted his drink to his lips, the cool glass raising a dull pain on his chapped lips,

He'd just have to spend a sleepless night trying to figure it all out, the answers weren't coming now.

Despite not wanting to be involved with anything happening around him, Buzz was still vaguely aware of a rise in volume, as many patrons spoke a welcome as someone of note joined them in the saloon.

It was just who the deputy had been thinking of.

Woody sat down at the bar beside him, a half empty drink already in hand, "I've been thinking" he declared after a very long wait of silence,

"Yes Sheriff?" Buzz replied, quirking an eyebrow,

"Andy's town isn't like other towns, is it?" he asked, his eyes focusing far off to something in the distance, something that wasn't there.

Buzz was surprised, impressed even, he'd never been proven to be wrong so quickly,

Woody did notice the place's strangeness after all?

"I- I would say not, no Sheriff" he frowned, lowering his tone, "It's a nice place, and like you said, the people are-" he faltered, "-lovely. But, I've never known a place like it, and the crime is-"

"Unacceptable" Woody said quickly, "I know it is, it's unacceptable and I've been sat on the side line, letting it happen for too long" he shook his head and brought his beer to his lips, swallowing down the rest of it in two large gulps,

Buzz's frown deepened, "How much have you had to drink Sheriff?",

"But today, you opened my eyes Buzz, you really did" Woody continued, either having not heard him, or choosing to ignore what he had asked. "No more feeling sorry for myself, and no more sitting on the side lines" finally he turned to look at Buzz, and now the expression on his face could only be described as sheer determination, "We'll find them Buzz, every single one of them, Bart, Betty, Jane, even the Doctor"

Buzz blinked, "Well- I'm glad to hear Sheriff" he then lifted his glass,

Woody smiled and rose his own empty drink to clash with it, "The investigation starts tomorrow, bright and early".


	4. Chapter 4

"The investigation starts tomorrow, bright and early"

And it had. Woody had come to knock at Buzz's door sometime just after the crack of dawn, and as they left the saloon to go to the office, Buzz had to catch the just waking Ken to cancel the wake up call he had scheduled,

Woody had taken out the huge stack of files he had on each of their targets, and the deputy would've been impressed by the sheriff's upkeep on paperwork, if there hadn't been so darn much of it.

Jessie came around at a more reasonable hour once the rest of the town had started to get up, and she couldn't help but watch them with a teasing smile as they moved sluggishly, blinking furiously to keep their eyes open and focused on the pages before them.

Once she had left, the two quietly agreed that the next day they wouldn't start quite so early, not that they would admit to Jessie that it was due to her mockery though.

Over the proceeding days, Buzz found that his mornings instead became filled with another activity- the riding lessons that Jessie had suggested,

He met her outside of the stables each morning and with her help took out her own mare along with a smaller white coloured pony, the one which the man had already ridden before, during the unsuccessful chase of Bazooka Jane.

"Oh, I know you" the deputy had said with a smile, taking the offered reigns that Jessie was handing him, and watching the blond horse move slowly from the shed,

"I guessed he'd probably be the best horse for you to work with, he's calm and-" she paused and looked Buzz up and down with a smirk, "-well, he's a little short too",

The man blushed deeply and gave an awkward cough, gripping the reigns a little tighter, "What's his name?" he then asked, trying to regain his voice,

"Buttercup" she answered, tossing a saddle over the horses back, and grinning at him,

That had shut the deputy up again.

Since, they had spent the past three mornings riding out in the open,

Buzz learnt the basics of saddling up Buttercup, and then how to ride confidently. He still wasn't sure about the saddle-sore, which was still an issue, but not only did he think that there was likely very little that could be done in regards to that, he also didn't want to mention it to Jessie of all people.

0o0o0

"You doing alright over there?" Jessie asked, frowning over at Buzz,

His expression was somewhere between tired and pained, while he was also left wincing in the sun, overall it was a very unflattering look, "I'm fine" he nodded, adjusting his position on the saddle once again, and gently patting Buttercup's neck to calm him- not that he was un-calm anyway.

"Well okay then" she replied from atop her own horse, her look rather unconvinced, "We should probably head in now, Woody will start to wonder where you are" she then said, shielding her eyes from the light and looking over to the station stables which weren't too far a field from where they were,

"Sure" Buzz nodded.

Jessie tugged the reigns in her hand a little tighter, and her horse turned bared right, heading for their destination slowly,

The deputy followed to her side, his head hung a little as sweat dripped over his collars from the back of his neck- he was glad he'd brought a spare shirt with him today of all days, the sun was unbearable and he'd all but soaked through his first one.

"So, it's been a week now" the redhead said after a minute, "What do you think of Andy's town?",

Buzz looked over to her and managed a smile, "I like it" he said with a nod, "It's a good little town, with nice people, good air, and perfect quiet",

"'Quiet'?" Jessie repeated, her brow furrowing,

"The city is so loud, there's always something going on" he replied, shaking his head, "But here, there are moments so silent you can really hear yourself think",

The redhead chuckled softly, "You're kind of an old soul, aren't you?" she asked,

Buzz blinked and then smiled sheepishly, "I suppose",

"It sounds like you were always meant to be here, if you like the quiet so much. Think you'll stay?",

He paused again and thought on that question a little harder.

He hadn't really considered the idea that he would be in Andy's town to stay, but at the same time, he didn't think about leaving. In all honestly, he didn't see any trouble with staying, it was as good as any place, if not better,

He smiled softly, his dimples showing, "If y'all think you'll keep me",

To his great surprise, Jessie's cheeks seemed to darken a little, and her lips parted to let out silent shock,

She hadn't been expecting that.

The tip of her tongue slipped out to dampen her top lip, but she found that it instead trapped her lip against her teeth, and she was left biting it for a moment, before she finally took in a deep breath and shrugged, "We'll have to ask around, won't we?"

Buzz laughed in response, and then took no surprise as Jessie clipped her heals into her horse's sides and went ahead to get to the stables first,

She still teased him mercilessly, and often left his questions either answered defensively or not answered at all, but he was quite sure that she was at least warming to him.

When he slid off his horse, Jessie had already put her own away, and offered to take Buttercup in for him,

Buzz nodded his thanks and instead went to his bag, which was waiting just inside the door. He opened the leather satchel and took out the folded shirt from within, draping it over a railing built into the wall as he began to peal the t-shirt he already wore from his body. The fabric clung uncomfortably to him, but the moment he pulled it away, he was glad of the air that his skin was met with, even if it was still warm, it felt less muggy against his burning flesh.

He inspected the sweat soaked shirt in his hands and frowned- it would take an awful amount of attention to get it back to how it once was, it probably could've done with some darning too. He wrinkled his nose at the idea of asking Ken to do that when he took in the washing though, he would be far too eager,

"Think Woody's eaten breakfast today?" Buzz asked, looking over his shoulder to Jessie, who was feeding her mare an apple from her hand,

She turned and paused, looking at him in silence,

He raised an eyebrow at her and picked up his shirt, threading his arms through his sleeves but not quite starting on the column of buttons that would fasten it, "What?" he asked, confused by her sudden quiet and odd expression,

"Hmm?" she asked, looking back to her horse quickly, and rubbing its nose.

He sighed, "Do you think Woody had breakfast this morning? He didn't yesterday, or the day before",

"Who can say?" Jessie replied quickly, "Button up your shirt and we'll go find out",

Buzz blinked at her and put his hands to the buttons swiftly, "Yes _ma'am_ " he nodded,

"Oh, stop it" she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.

The two of them then left the stable together and started towards the station entrance,

Inside the air was far, far cooler, as each of the window was still covered by thick curtains, it was an ominous sight to say the least, or it would be, if either of them could've seen all that far into the room at all.

They paused together in the doorway and Buzz raised his eyebrows quizzically at her,

Jessie shrugged and stepped ahead, moving towards where Woody's desk sat,

The deputy begrudgingly followed her, his eyes quickly becoming accustom to the dark.

He could now see the figure slumped across the sheriff's desk, their head and arms slotted perfectly between stacks of files,

"Woody" his sister said with a sigh, reaching out a hand to touch his wrist,

The man jumped at the contact, and his torso shot up until he was upright in the chair,

"What's happening?" he asked quickly, looking worried, his eyes open wide in panic.

"Nothing sheriff, it's just us" Buzz replied, stepping a little closer to the desk to be in sight, and giving his superior a look of concern,

Woody sighed and placed his hand over his forehead, "Sorry y'all, I- I was just resting my eyes",

"Sure" Jessie replied, looking sceptical, "You eaten this morning?",

Her brother blinked, "Morning?" he asked softly,

"Yeah, I just got in for the day sheriff" Buzz replied, his eyebrows furrowing, "Have- have you been here all night?",

The brunette looked about, staring into the dim room with great confusion, "I guess I have",

Jessie let out a sigh which turned into a growl, "How can you look after the town when you can't even look after yourself?" she asked, skirting around the desk and grabbing one of his arms, beginning to hoist him to his feet with her insistent grip, "Come on, we've got to get some food in you",

"Stop fussing Jess" he frowned, but allowing himself to be hauled up, "Fine, fine, a quick breakfast, then back to work" he nodded, "You coming Buzz?",

The deputy made a small noise of surprise,

"Of course he is, come on" Jessie then said before he could answer, practically dragging her brother out of the office.

Buzz sighed and dropped his bag off at his desk, before following the two out into the hot sun again,

They made their way to the saloon as usual, Woody and Jessie only getting into a brief fight on the way, as he waved her off from trying to help him stay upright.

As expected, the saloon was quite busy, with at least two dozen people sat about, all eating breakfast together- some patrons of the hotel like Buzz, whom he now knew on sight, but many others he did not,

"Damn" Woody grumbled, looking at all the filled seats,

"There's space at the bar" Jessie said, pointing to a row of free seats, "Come on"

They weaved between the tables and the people and sat themselves down, the men at either side and Jessie in the middle as she had insisted.

Despite the many, many customers, it wasn't long before Barbara came along with her bright smile and asked what they wanted,

Once again, before a decision could be made by anyone else, Jessie ordered up three plates of the fullest breakfasts they had, helpfully adding that it would go on Buzz's tab.

The woman nodded and swiftly left, going to find her husband who was apparently making everything to order himself,

"I already ate this morning" Buzz said once she had left, frowning at Jessie,

The redhead shrugged, "I'm sure you'll manage" she replied, glancing over her shoulders to the other patrons. It wasn't long before her eyes locked on one place amongst the people in particular, and her expression once more became unreadable, "Gimme a sec'" she said softly, before sliding off from her seat and again dipping into the sea of people,

Buzz turned in his seat to watch her go,

She seemed to know everyone, probably because in a town like this, _everybody_ knew everyone, but in the time the deputy had known her, he hadn't seen her talk to all that many of them. He briefly thought that she was probably heading to talk to some cowboy he didn't know, someone who had been out of town working,

He frowned.

Jessie didn't go to any of the many cowboys sat eating their breakfasts though, she instead went to an odd couple that were sat at a corner table. Neither the man, nor his wife looked particularly hospitable, and the scowling expressions they gave the sheriff's sister when she approached seemed to confirm that,

Words were exchanged between them, and soon all three looked frustrated.

Buzz couldn't help but be curious, he had never even seen this couple about town, as far as he knew, but they did look a little familiar he supposed. What left him all the more intrigued was the way in which a disagreement had seemed to have started between them so easily, and so early in the morning no less.

"Hey sheriff?" he asked, turning to the man in question,

Woody shifted on his stool, and his heavy eyelids flung open again, "Yes?",

Buzz sighed softly and looked back across the saloon, "Who's that that Jessie's talking to?",

Bleary eyed, the other man turned away from the bar and looked for his sister in the crowd- the red hair made it easy,

"Oh" he said with a shrug, "That the Potatohead's, Mr and Mrs" he replied, now far more interested in Barbie, who was fast approaching with three well filled plates,

"What would they- oh thank you" Buzz said, nodding to the woman as she placed down his own second breakfast, "What would they be talking about do you think? Jessie and the Potatohead's?",

Woody blinked and looked up from the sausage he had already taken a bite of, "Haircuts?" he suggested, "They're the barbers remember, Jessie's probably just booking a cut",

The deputy frowned, that was definitely as unsatisfying as answers came.

He slowly took up his fork and began to prod at the food on his plate, only half appetized by what lay before him,

"Don't play with your food" Jessie then said, suddenly sitting back on her stool and taking up her own cutlery,

"Oh, Jessie" Buzz said, nodding to her.

He briefly glanced over his shoulder again, looking to where the Potatohead's were sat,

To his shock, they were staring fiercely over to him in return, or to Jessie at least,

"Everything alright?" he asked, looking back to the redhead,

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?" she replied, placing a large piece of steak into her mouth,

He shrugged softly, and felt the tips of his ears burn with a blush, "I don't know, it just seemed that you and the Potatohead's had a heated argu-" he faltered and licked his dry lips, "-a heated conversation" he corrected,

"And?" Jessie asked simply, arching one eyebrow at him,

"Well- well what were you talking about?",

She silently stared at him for moment, before taking up the cup of milk that Barbara had poured for her, "Haircuts" she answered, taking a long drink from it,

"Haircuts" Woody repeated, shovelling his breakfast into his mouth,

Buzz sighed and turned to his own food, finding himself even less hungry than he had before.

0o0o0

At seeing his almost full plate, Woody had asked Buzz if he was planning on eating anything, at the answer of 'no', the sheriff had then asked if he minded him taking the food. Despite being the one who would pay for all of it, the other man thought that at least it would get Woody to eat, and he allowed it.

Jessie finished her own plate quickly and then excused herself, having been entirely silent as they sat together.

When Woody was half way through his second plate, Buzz asked to leave too, wanting to finish some errands before the other man needed him at the station,

He was mostly focused on his breakfast, but he acknowledged the request and waved Buzz off.

The deputy made his way up to his room and immediately sat at his desk, taking out an unused piece of paper and pencil,

His mother had finally responded to the first letter he had sent to her on arriving in Andy's town, and he saw no better time than now to answer it… but what to actually say was lost on him.

Buzz propped up his chin on his fist, and leant heavily against his desk, his eyes gazing out of the window instead, and watching the quiet street below.

It was still morning of course, so while the dirt road was cast in the bright sun light, it was effectively empty of a single soul, not that it was ever that busy at all,

While the police station was just out of sight from where he sat, he could still make out some of the places along the way, most of which hadn't piqued his interest, save for the Potatohead's barbers, which was the only place showing any sign of life.

Of all people, it was Jessie who was stood outside of the place, her hands in her skirt pockets as she milled about, apparently waiting for something,

Mrs Potatohead came out from the doorway a moment later, but the redhead ignored her, and instead only reacted when Mr Potatohead joined his wife.

Mr Potatohead did not look happy to see her, and as it had in the saloon not much earlier, an animated argument began, with both parties gesticulating as they spoke,

Jessie then shook her head ferociously, but neither Potatohead was having any of it, and with a few final words, punctuated by a few sharp points in the woman's direction, the conversation was over.

The Potatohead's returned to cover of their shop, and Jessie, head now hung, meandered slowly out of sight, seemingly heading for the stables,

Buzz frowned, perhaps he was wrong, perhaps the people were not as nice as he had thought and perhaps, the town was not so quiet.


	5. Chapter 5

The following day, after another morning long stretch of fruitless work, Buzz found himself faced with unexpected free time between plain files. He and the Sheriff had been working so much lately that the very idea of time off seemed laughable, and yet he found himself at an impasse all the same.

There was a gap in the collection of information they were pouring over, three months of dates were missing, and the ever-diligent Woody became convinced that they couldn't possibly move on without checking those files first.

The box containing them had been sent to the city a year or so earlier apparently, as a criminal with a country wide spree who had once passed through the town was caught and put on trial there. The Sheriff assured Buzz that he'd have the information delivered as soon as possible, sent on the fastest horse the pony express had, but for now, the day was clear, _he supposed?_

Buzz decided spontaneously to utilize this sudden free time and get to know the town a little better, having lived there for weeks now. There were plenty of members in the township who had piqued his interest, none of which he had ever even interacted with.

He could think of no better than to start than the barber shop, he would need to get a haircut at some point after all of course. He liked to at least try to convince himself that he didn't have an ulterior motive, even if that wasn't the case.

He gave the exterior of the place a suspicious once over.

It looked almost identical to every other building on the street, dark brown wood, scorched tin roof and windows painted grey with a thick coating of dust. It's only defining feature was the striped red and white pole hanging by the door, but that too was mostly colourless thanks to the desert sand spray. Nothing painted lasted long here by the looks of it.

Buzz gave a small shrug to himself and stepped through the doorway into the barbers,

It was very quiet, with no one obvious in sight.

There was something somewhat unsettling about the empty, wooden barbers chair stood in the centre of the room, and even worse was the small table beside it, covered by a clean but very old cloth, upon which several unfolded straight razors were waiting. It was like a very poorly stocked surgeons' tray.

The Deputy decided to ignore them as well as the feeling growing in his stomach, and instead went to the desk set close by entrance- as was the custom after all.

Atop the desk was a dented but shining brass bell, and seeing no other option, the man pressed it gently, letting it's sound resound about the room,

There was an almighty clatter from somewhere upstairs and a door opened above him.

A conversation which had obviously been happening before his interruption continued as two sets of footsteps began down the stairs towards him- the closer they got, the louder the words were. It was clear though, that their voices sounded as they did, as the conversation would have been better described as an argument.

A door finally opened at the back of the shop, and Mr and Mrs Potatohead stomped out together, both wearing sour expressions,

They both had similar frames, slightly stout and round, and their complexions were matching too; like lightly tanned leather. Mr Potatohead had a head of thinning black hair, with a very thick moustache in opposition, while his wife had pale blonde curls down to around her ears, so pale that they may even have been going grey, not that Buzz would mention such a thing to a lady. For a barber, Mr Potatohead had an otherwise very unkempt appearance; his round belly was kept in by a tucked, light grey shirt, and a pair of very old, scratched glass were hung from his breast pocket. As the face of the shop however, Mrs Potatohead was much more the part; her lips were rouged gently, her ears were pierced with studs of shining gold, and the flowers on her dress were mimicked by sprouts of gathered fabric pinned in her hair, resembling blossoms.

Buzz stiffened up a little, but slipped his hands into his pockets casually as they approached, "I hope I didn't disturb anything?" he asked,

Mr Potatohead immediately turned away and stopped at the barber's chair, regarding his waiting knives rather than answering the question,

Mrs Potatohead came to the other side of the desk however and paused to look him up and down, "No… Deputy" she said slowly.

He expected her to say more, but once the steely silence between them began, he was left quite sure that she was a woman of few words… or that maybe she just didn't like him,

"I'm not here for a haircut I'm afraid" Buzz paused and smiled softly, "-at least not this time" he added with a small laugh, trying to lift the mood,

The Potatohead's looked to each other, sharing some kind of unspoken comment- they did not look remotely amused however.

"How can we help you then Deputy?" she asked, a slight trace of annoyance in her question,

"I just wanted to introduce myself" he replied, shrugging,

"Mmm hmm" she hummed, tone indiscernible.

Buzz couldn't help but feel that she was making conversation very difficult, he persisted all the same however,

"Like I say, I just wanted to introduce myself-" he said, offering his hand across the desk, "I'm Buzz, the new Deputy. I'm staying at the saloon for now, but once my house gets finished, and I'm settled, I'll be sure to drop by for a haircut" he said, smiling as Mrs Potatohead begrudgingly took his hand and shook it, "Oh, and a shave too" he added with a chuckle once their hands parted.

The couple looked to one another once more,

"I'll be sure to sharpen the razors" Mr Potatohead grumbled.

Buzz wondered if everything he said sounded so threatening, perhaps that was just his general tone,

Now was clearly not a good time to ask about their conversation with Jessie the day before, but the Deputy could think of very little else to make a topic of discussion now, especially as they both seemed to be lacking in conversational skills, at least in regard to him.

"You seem quite familiar with Jessie" he said, hoping he was coming across as conversational, and not intrusive,

Both of the Potatohead's paused, and looked up to the Deputy, their expressions even more steely, if that were at all possible,

Buzz raised his eyebrows, feigning a kind of innocence, "Jessie, the Sheriff's sister?"  
"Yes, we know who you're talking about" Mrs Potatohead replied quickly, "Of course we do",

"Why wouldn't we?" Mr Potatohead said, finally coming away from the barber's chair, and approaching his wife almost cautiously, "As you say, she's the Sheriff's sister. Everyone knows the Sheriff, so everyone knows his sister"

The Deputy looked between them, blinking, "Yes, I suppose" he nodded, "I just thought-"

"Thought what?" Mrs Potatohead snapped, cutting him off,

Her husband tensed and let out a long sigh.

This wasn't an official investigation, of course not, but Buzz knew a defensive reaction when he saw one, and he could also tell that Mr Potatohead was trying to curb his wife's anger.

"I just thought you knew her _well_ is all-" he paused, licking his lips, "-clearly I was mistaken"

"Clearly" Mr Potatohead said with another sigh, "Now if you don't mind, we have an important customer booked in, can you give us some time to set up? Alone?"

The request was not unreasonable, but the man's attitude was uncomfortable,

"Yes, yes of course" he replied, nodding, "Thank you for your time"

The Deputy turned on the spot and started towards the door, going as quickly as he could without making it too obvious. He was abruptly stopped in the doorway however, as the broad frame of another man blocked out the light from outside,

Buzz looked up to the round face staring down at him, wincing as a thick plume of cigar smoke was blown into his face,

"The Deputy, I presume?" asked a cool, detached voice,

He stifled a cough and nodded, "And you are?"

"Mr Ham" the man replied, pulling the cigar from between his thick lips, and offering his other hand to him, "Bank manager"

He accepted the handshake, but then immediately regretted it as his hand was crushed in the other man's tight grip,

"Good to meet you" Mr Ham said, their hands parting,

"And you" Buzz replied quickly, "Now, I'll leave you to your appointment, good afternoon" he added with a nod, before whisking past the very large bank manager in the doorway and starting out onto the dusty road.

Mr Ham smacked his lips, watching as the Deputy retreated down the street, until he was out of sight, "Well he seems very official, doesn't he?" he asked softly, smirking,

Both of the Potatohead's sniggered in response, but quickly cut themselves off as the bank manager turned on the spot and regarded them, his face once again stern,

"I don't like him" he said firmly, placing the end of his cigar back into his mouth, "Any ideas?",

Mrs Potatohead nodded, smiling once again, the corners of her mouth upturned wickedly,

"He'll be in the station, we'll handle it" Mr Potatohead answered.

0o0o0

By habit, Buzz was half way back to the police station when he realised that he'd been moving without thinking, and he suddenly stopped in the road, sighing with his hands on his hips.

He was exhausted, he'd only be working in Andy's town for a few weeks, and he was already completely out of steam. He hadn't anticipated that a place so small would leave him spread to thin, even if the crime rate was recorded so high.

It was all of the extra's that came not only with the job, but with the new living space, that were leaving him on empty.

For work, he was stuck at a desk all day, pouring over year's worth of old records, all of which were poorly written, in indecipherable handwriting that made his eyes hurt. And when he wasn't at work, he had riding lessons with Jessie, or was sneaking out by himself to practise everything she had taught him.

Buzz continued down the road and made his way up to the wooden doors of the station, peering into the dark briefly before he entered,

Woody was slumped against his desk as always, his eyes lazily skimming over a paper that he held up with both hands,

"Afternoon" the Deputy said softly, stopping just a foot away from the entrance,

"Hmm? Afternoon" he replied with a grumble,

"How's it going?"

"As well as ever" Woody shrugged,

Buzz sighed, "Sorry to hear that" he then licked his lips nervously, and put his hands on his hips, glancing about their enclosed office, "I was wondering-"

"Hmm?" the Sheriff asked again, finally looking up from his file,

"Well, it's been a very busy few days" he started, grimacing, "I think the heat and the- the non-stop work are starting to take their toll, so-"

"Take the day" Woody said, interrupting and answering the other's man's question before it had even left his mouth,

Buzz blinked, "Are you sure?",

"Of course!" he replied, nodding, "No use both of us being exhausted, especially while we're waiting for the delivery. Take the rest of the day off and then- well…" he trailed off, a dim blush starting to boom over his cheeks.

"What? Anything Sheriff" The Deputy answered sincerely, taking another step towards his desk,

"I could do with some sleep too, I should think, so maybe take the morning shift by yourself?"

"Yes!" was Buzz's immediate reply, "Yes, of course"

Woody smiled, "Thank you"

"It's no problem" the other said with a nod, "Well- err- good afternoon I guess, I'll see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, tomorrow, bye Buzz" he replied, going back to his work.

The Deputy turned back to the doorway and stepped out into the dusty street, wincing at the bright daylight, but smiling as he took in a lungful of fresh air. Even in the city he rarely got days off, and yet he was sure he knew exactly what he was going to do with all of his free time now,

He was going to take a damn long sleep.

0o0o0

Buzz had one of the deepest sleeps of his life.

Arriving at the saloon, he quickly found Barbara and asked not to be disturbed until the next morning- she was very accommodating, and not in the way that her husband was, _thank God_.

The Deputy went up to his room, closed the thick curtains, stripped down to his under clothes and lay in silence on his large bed, very quickly finding sleep.

He could hardly believe it when he was roused the next morning by a knock at his door- he was so surprised because it meant that he'd managed to sleep solidly for about fourteen hours, something which he was quite sure he hadn't done over the entire course of his life.

He answered the door, opening it just a crack to cover his inappropriate dress,

Luckily, it was Barbie who had come to wake him anyway, and with a gentle smile she handed him a small tray holding a glass of milk and a plate of breakfast.

He ate and then dressed slowly, moving at his own leisurely speed, before making his way through the still quiet saloon and down to the station stables as always.

Inside it was still cool, but the horses seemed restless as they moved about their boxes,

Buzz began down the short space between them, working his way to the back where Jessie could usually be found preparing their saddles, but it was quite clear before he even got close, that she wasn't around.

He stopped by the high, narrow table that stood against the side wall and placed his hand on it, regarding the stacked tower of empty buckets that were still waiting on its surface,

No wonder the horses seemed so off, they hadn't been fed. The buckets were usually filled with oats and hung up outside of their stalls in the morning.

Buzz frowned and looked about the small space again- there was no indication that Jessie had been their all morning,

He lifted the buckets off of the table and spread the four of them out on the floor, he then began scooping handfuls of oats into them from a nearby sack, filling them half way. He set about hanging them outside of each horse box, concluding with Buttercup, who he gave a friendly pat on the nose to, and snuck an extra piece of carrot that he found amongst the straw to.

Buzz left the stable slowly, lingering as much as possible in case Jessie was only running late, but as the temperature rose and the sun just started to make his skin swelter, he decided that it was time to move on.

He went along to the station which was dark as always, hopefully because Woody had kept to his word and taken the morning off, rather than because he had fallen asleep at his desk again,

A pleasant smile found his face as he entered the space, and it even remained as he opened the blinds, and the sunlight hit his eyes, making them crease.

The station was quiet, and cool.

Buzz stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, wandering over to the Sheriff's desk- he had so much extra time before Woody was due in, that he thought he may as well start with whatever it was that the man was working on the night before.

The towers of files on his desk had hardly seen much impact, they were mostly all of the same height and hadn't been moved from their starting positions either. The pile which was meant to concern interest in the current location of the criminals they were chasing, was upsettingly sparse, or perhaps empty was a better word.

Buzz came around the side of the desk, going to take up the papers which had been left directly in front of the Sherriff's chair. They all looked fairly standard, police reports written on pale, cream coloured paper,

The only sheet which stood out was the one folded on top, the paper was coarse, and there were dark smears of ink on the back it- Woody's notes perhaps?

The Deputy dropped the rest of the files back on the desk and unfolded the one of interest, immediately wincing to read the awful handwriting the message was written in.

His fingers fumbled, and he lost his grip on the letter, letting it slip down to the floor, as he instead put his palms to the table top, steadying himself as shock ricocheted through him.

 _We have the Sheriff, leave town and we will let him go._

 _Investigate, and the Sheriff dies._

 _You have three days._

 _One Eyed Bart_

 _One Eyed Betty_


End file.
